Nina stood still as the tremors faded, the stranger's words echoing louder than the rumble of the approaching catastrophe.
'This apathy… it'll be the reason the world ends.'
Her Patron's question lingered in her mind.
[Patron: So. What do you want to do?]
She didn't answer immediately. Instead, she exhaled slowly, the air from her lungs feeling heavier than before.
"I want to go home. This has nothing to do with me."
She muttered.
[Patron: Understood. We'll head back.]
Her Patron replied.
She turned around.
But her feet wouldn't move.
The voice in her memory wasn't done with her. You'll regret this.
She gritted her teeth.
"Tch."
[Patron: You changed your mind already?]
Her Patron asked knowingly.
Nina clenched her fists.
"That idiot was so sure I'd exhausted myself. Said I couldn't handle more. Guess I'll prove him wrong."
She turned to face the growing glow on the horizon where the second dungeon gate swelled like a wound in the sky.
There was a short pause. Then her Patron let out a sigh.
"Your body isn't used to this much exercise in a single day. You haven't moved this much in months. It'll hurt tomorrow."
Nina gave a crooked smile.
"Worth the soreness."
[Patron: Really? All this effort… just to prove some random lunatic wrong?]
Her Patron asked.
"A king needs to keep her pride."
Nina replied.
Her Patron gave a dry chuckle.
"A king also needs to remain aloof. Unshaken. Detached. You can't let someone's words get to you like this."
"I'm not triggered."
She replied quickly.
"Of course you're not."
Her Patron said, deadpan.
Nina didn't bother arguing.
They both knew she was lying.
That man had gotten under her skin more than she'd like to admit. His judgmental stare, his self-righteous tone, the way he had spoken as if he knew her.
He didn't.
And yet…
She turned back toward the gate, now clearly visible from her vantage point.
The sky above it swirled like a whirlpool, threads of violet light leaking through its cracks. A low hum pulsed outward, vibrating in her chest. It was still growing.
And fast.
Nina narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to close it."
"Now you're talking. Go ahead. Do what you want. I've got your back."
Her Patron replied, voice settling into something steadier.
Nina rolled her shoulders and shook the stiffness from her limbs.
Her breath came out in short puffs, adrenaline slowly filling her again. Her muscles already ached from the earlier fight, but she pushed past the discomfort.
She reached for her mana.
It surged in response. Still present. Still hers.
The stranger had assumed she was done for the day.
He had no idea who she was.
With a sharp flick of her wrist, her outfit darkened, shadows rising around her like a cloak.
Her face was still masked. Her identity still hidden.
No one would connect this figure to the lazy, game-obsessed eldest daughter who was supposedly the least remarkable person in her family.
And that was just how she liked it.
Nina faced the expanding gate. The air around it warped, pulsing with unnatural heat.
Civilians were already fleeing in the distance, and a few brave—or reckless—hunters rushed to contain the disaster. They wouldn't be enough.
But she would.
Because the so-called King of Humanity was still standing.
And she was ready to prove she hadn't even started trying yet.
Nina stood still, her eyes fixed on the gaping dungeon gate as it loomed larger, swirling like a whirlpool tearing through the sky.
Civilians screamed in the distance, hunters scrambled uselessly below, and her own body already throbbed with exhaustion.
But she had one more move left.
"King's Authority."
She whispered.
Mana cracked through the air.
The world itself stilled.
A golden symbol burned beneath her feet, its intricate lines spreading outward like veins.
The very air shimmered, threads of ambient mana pulling toward her—obedient, absolute. Her Patron didn't speak, knowing this wasn't the moment.
With the gate still pulsing, Nina raised her hand. The mana around her bent to her will, resisting at first, but then yielding under the weight of her authority. She clenched her fist.
The gate screamed.
Its edges began to collapse inward, distorted by the forced shift in the natural laws Nina was manipulating.
Threads of energy sparked, twisted, and vanished as the gate closed in on itself until—finally—it snapped shut like a vacuum-sealed wound, the pressure drop echoing in a hollow boom.
Silence followed.
Then movement.
Monsters that had already crossed through snarled and roared, confused and leaderless. Nina let her hand drop to her side, then raised the other one.
"Shadow Spike"
She said.
A second surge of mana rushed through her.
Black shadows rippled beneath her feet and shot forward across the cracked pavement. Spikes erupted like claws, sharp and controlled.
They pierced through monster after monster with surgical precision. No collateral damage. No wasted force. Just efficient, targeted destruction.
The streets fell quiet once more.
Civilians who had hidden began to emerge slowly, eyes wide, hands trembling. Some pointed. Others whispered.
"That's Nero's skill…"
"It's him… It has to be…"
"The #1 hunter…"
"He saved us."
Nina exhaled, feeling the full weight of her magic settle across her body like bricks. Her legs were shaky. Her shoulders burned. But she stood tall, even as she turned to leave.
She didn't make it far.
The stranger from earlier stepped into her path once more, his face filled with disbelief.
"You actually helped. You—you saved them.""
He said quietly, as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. Nina narrowed her eyes.
"Move."
He didn't.
"Why? Why interfere now? You said you didn't care."
He asked.
Nina stared at him for a long moment.
"I did what I wanted to. That's all."
"No. This matters. This means something. I changed the future. I really changed it!"
The man muttered, more to himself than to her.
She arched a brow.
"You're seriously trying to take credit for this?"
The man ignored her tone, now smiling faintly to himself, as if lost in some grand revelation.
"I was sent back for a reason. This is it. I changed what was supposed to happen. I can change more. I just have to keep trying!"
Nina blinked once.
Then again.
"Yep. He's completely lost it."
The man looked at her, fire burning in his eyes.
"Don't you see? This is destiny. I wasn't sent back by chance. It's all connected."
"I really need to get out of here."
Nina muttered, already turning to walk past him.
"Wait—!"
She didn't.
Because if she stayed one second longer, he'd probably start preaching about fate and chosen timelines and divine interference. And Nina had enough problems.
Her legs ached, her head hurt, and her mana reserves were dangerously low.
Saving the city had been a mistake.
Letting that man talk longer would be a bigger one.
So she walked off without looking back, deciding that she'd done more than enough for one day—and that any more would just get her caught in someone else's delusions.
As Nina turned the corner and began to walk away, the sound of hurried footsteps followed behind her. Then came the shout.
"My name is Kevin! And I'm going to change the world! I'll stop the tragedies before they happen—I swear it!"
The man yelled.
Nina didn't turn around.
But she did shiver.
Something about the way he said it—his voice filled with absolute conviction—settled like a weight on her spine. Her footsteps quickened.
[Patron: Nina? You alright? Need me to handle him?]
Her Patron's voice echoed softly in her mind.
"No. He's not worth the effort."
She muttered under her breath.
She broke into a run.
The city was still recovering behind her. Sirens wailed in the distance.
People shouted. Mana lingered in the air like smoke after a fire, thick and heavy. But Nina didn't stop running until she was well away from the chaos and close to home.
Her heart pounded—not from fear, but from something far more irritating.
Annoyance.
Irritation.
And something else she refused to name.
"He's just another idiot who thinks the world revolves around him. Best to ignore people like that."
She muttered.
Her Patron didn't reply immediately, but she could feel his presence hovering, thoughtful.
[Patron: Sure. If that's what you want.]
He finally said.
"It is."
Nina said sharply.
And that was that.
She walked the rest of the way in silence, doing her best to forget the name Kevin and the promise he'd shouted into the world.
A promise she didn't want to hear.
______
I am too tired to keep writing [Patron:] in front of his sentences, so I will remove it form the next chapter.